Former Ducks captain becomes coach

Attempting to reverse their downward trend toward the lower reaches of the Western Conference, the Ducks turned to someone who lifted them to their greatest heights for help.

Former captain Scott Niedermayer will join the Ducks coaching staff as an assistant, marking his first foray into coaching at the NHL level. The 39-year-old retired in 2010 after 18 stellar NHL seasons and has been a consultant with the team since.

Niedermayer took on various roles with the Ducks, including scouting and working with their American Hockey League affiliate as he began his transition to a new phase of his career in hockey.

The club wanted the former defenseman to take on a greater role within the organization and Niedermayer met with General Manager Bob Murray and Coach Bruce Boudreau this week.

"The last couple of years have been different, but I've had some fun opportunities to do things with the family and by myself that I haven't been able to do before," Niedermayer said. "It was good, but now I'm looking forward to this, to get back and help out any way I can.

"As a player, you want to do anything you can to help make the team more successful, and I think my attitude will pretty much be the same now."

The rest of the Ducks staff — Boudreau, assistants Bob Woods and Brad Lauer, and video coordinator Joe Piscotty — remains intact. Details of his contract were not released, as per club policy.

Niedermayer said he'll initially remain at home, attending practice and games, but also has the welcome mat to join the team on road trips if he so chooses. The travel grind was one of the reasons the defenseman decided to end his playing days.

As far as the itch to coach, he said he didn't think there was really one moment when it came to him.

"Obviously the last couple of years, I've worked with players down in Syracuse and at Norfolk at the start of this year," Niedermayer said later on a conference call. "I realized that I do enjoy it, more than maybe I had thought when I was a player. I probably couldn't predict this when I was a player.

"I've enjoyed that opportunity. Just talking with Bob and his ideas as to what would help the organization and he thought this might be something that would be worthwhile. I'm excited about the chance to try and help."

Niedermayer captained the Ducks to their first and only Stanley Cup title in 2007 after winning three championships with the New Jersey Devils.

"As a player, Scott was one of the great leaders and winners of all time, making him a tremendous addition to our coaching staff," Murray said. "His knowledge of the game and relationship with the players will be a great benefit for us. And he's even a better person than a hockey player."

Perhaps the most significant free agent signing in franchise history, Niedermayer played in 371 games over five seasons with the Ducks and led them to four consecutive playoff appearances and their greatest success. He is the club's all-time leader in goals (60), assists (204), points (264) and power-play goals (39) as a defenseman.

His impact was never greater than his first two seasons. Niedermayer lifted the Ducks toward elite status in 2005-06 with a career-best 63-point season that made him a Norris Trophy finalist after winning the award with the Devils in 2004.

Niedermayer only topped that performance in 2006-07 with personal bests of 15 goals, 54 assists and 69 points before leading the Ducks to the mountaintop with clutch performances in the postseason that earned him the Conn Smythe Trophy as the playoffs' most valuable player.

Boudreau sounded eager to put one of the sport's most respected players into use.

"Let's realize Scotty is one of the greatest players that ever played the game," he said. "And his knowledge of the game is paramount. Players of his ilk, they see things that you don't see. And that kind of input is always invaluable.

"Especially with this role. He's probably going to be the eye in the sky. He's going to be able to see plays as they develop and we'll be in constant contract with the bench and him. Again, that'll be invaluable."

One of his pet projects could be third-year defenseman Cam Fowler, who figures to take over the No. 1 role full time but also has a combined minus-53 rating over his first two NHL seasons.

"Cam is obviously a great skater, and in the game today, that's obviously a huge asset to have," Niedermayer said."He's a smart player. You see the decisions he makes with and without the puck. Those two things are tremendously valuable and they're difficult to teach.

"Those are the talents he has and hopefully we can use those to make him an even better player."

Players were excited at the prospect of the future Hockey Hall of Fame blue-liner being around more often.

"I see him more like (an) individual coach," said Teemu Selanne, who won the Cup with his one-time teammate. "He can help a lot of young players and give good thoughts and feedback."